Nashville's Title Dreams Dead, But They've Got Bigger Fish: D.C. United Comes to Town Saturday

Nashville SC is licking wounds after a brutal Champions Cup exit, but manager B.J. Callaghan thinks getting bounced out of continental competition might actually be the reset his squad needs. The team dropped a 1-0 decision on Tuesday night at Tigres UANL in Mexico, completing a 2-0 aggregate loss in the Champions Cup semifinals. They were one match away from a second continental final in club history. Now they're moving on.

Here's the thing though: Nashville (7-1-2, 23 points) is still sitting four points clear atop the Eastern Conference in MLS play. Their early-season form has been absolutely legit. But the calendar is about to get messy. Saturday's home matchup against D.C. United marks their fifth game in 15 days, and there's a problem nobody's talking about loudly enough yet: Nashville hasn't scored in their last three games across all competitions.

Callaghan is choosing to see this differently. "When it's over, it's over," he said. "So you kind of almost see a refreshed-ness in the group, that we know we have a full focus on MLS play and MLS play only. We've got a great sense of hunger out of the Tigres game. And I think we just want to continue to fuel that kind of fire in our eyes, fire in our belly."

Sam Surridge's Scoring Drought vs. Tai Baribo's Return

Sam Surridge was the last Nashville player to actually find the back of the net. He banged in his eighth and ninth goals of the season back on April 25 in a 4-2 win over Charlotte. But he's been silent since then. That's where Saturday gets interesting: D.C. is bringing their own offensive firepower, with striker Tai Baribo expected to return from a thigh injury that's kept him out of D.C.'s last two matches. Baribo has six goals for D.C. this season after dropping 16 goals with Philadelphia a year ago.

D.C. United Looking Sharp

Don't sleep on the Black-and-Red right now. D.C. (4-4-3, 15 points) is riding a four-match unbeaten run and won their last two, including a 3-2 home victory over Orlando on April 25 and a 2-0 shutout at New York City FC last Sunday. Club-record offseason signing Louis Munteanu has already made an impact with three goals in his first three MLS matches: one against Orlando and two against New York.

"It gives us this confidence boost," D.C. manager Rene Weiler said. "We know that we are able to play good games against all of the teams in our league. But it will be a tough game. And of course we know how difficult it is to win games. It hasn't changed after this win."

Nashville needs to snap their scoring drought Saturday night, or things get complicated fast.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.